Since
Re-Ba'athification started a month ago, Ba'athist strongholds
in the North and West of Baghdad have not subsided, neither
have kidnappings, bombings or assassinations. Re-Ba'athification has not achieved
its objective of improving the security situation, resulting
in negative aspects only:

1.
Iraqis begin to lose trust in the new Iraq bringing
about an era of democracy;
2. Danger of creating civil unrest if Iraqis see the
state is not dealing with tormentors, then they will
resort to taking matters in their own hands, which occurred
in 1991. If anything, Bremer's early de-Ba'athification
decision saved Iraq from wide spread revenge killings.

Iraq
will have a national
census in October, replacing the plan of Karina
Parelli (UN Election Assistance Team Head),
who stated in June that the elections team may rely on
the ration card database and other government databases
to build voter registration lists. This would have been
disastrous for Iraq's upcoming election because the ration
card database is deeply flawed. The Hajj pilgrimage allocations,
executed in December and which were based on that database,
resulted in gross overestimation of population size of
districts that were Ba'athi strongholds, and underestimation
of population size from districts that were hostile to
Saddam.

Despite
the opening and booming of the Iraq
Stock Exchange, with continued insecurity impinging
the economy and reconstruction, Allawi announced the formation
of a new spy agency. This is a positive development which,
along with tighter border control, will no doubt improve
the security situation. However, the new agency must preserve
and respect the human rights and freedoms of Iraqis, and
not morph into the much-feared Mukhabarat of Saddam.

Saddam heard the charges against his atrocities. A
public and thorough trial is vital for healing the wounds
of Iraqis, and displaying the degree of his crimes to
the international community. The trial must be fair, more
for the victims than the defendant, whose guilt is unquestionable,
though the extent of his guilt is.